What plays/playwrights are eligible for the Stewart Parker Trust Award?

First professionally-produced* play by playwright based in Ireland which:

runs for a duration of 50 minutes or more.

was presented for two or more performances between 1st January and 31st December in the previous year.

is written by a single author, ie not a devised work or a play of dual authorship. not part

was presented as free standing play, ie not part of an interlinked evening of short plays or thematically connected double bill, where this may have placed creative restriction on the playwright.

was produced in Ireland North or South (we are unable to consider first plays by Irish writers produced internationally, however if this play has a subsequent production in Ireland it may be eligible).

is an original work, not a translation, adaptation or version of existing text.

is a play with one or more characters, ie not a staged memoir, stand-up or piece that is better described as factual or lecture.

*whether a play meets the criteria ‘professionally-produced’ will be decided in consultation with Irish Theatre Institute.

How do plays get selected for the Stewart Parker Trust shortlist?

Each year a panel of readers who read all the playsthat meet the criteria above (this hasranged from 18 to 35 scripts). The panel comprisesmembers of the Trust Advisory Panel and Trustees, a representative from Irish Theatre Institute and two independent playwrights. The panel base their assessment on the scripts alone (not the productions) and are looking for playwrights with a voice, originality, and an instinct for theatre. The panel is aware that the scripts under consideration will have had received very varied levels of support, resources and dramaturgy, so are looking for writers of promise - not perfect plays.

The Stewart Parker short list is announced each year in February.

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